Business writing tasks on Communication

Market Leader Upper Intermediate Unit 1

Choose one or more of the tasks below and email it to your teacher or give the piece of writing to him or her in the next class. You could choose the topic which is most connected to your work or area of business, or you could choose a genre that you often write or most need to improve.

Write a report recommending ways in which your company (or any real or imaginary company) can improve communication between managers and staff, between different branches, between different departments, or between different nationalities working in the same office

Write the agenda for a meeting about improving communication between managers and staff, between different branches, between different departments, or between different nationalities working in the same office

Write guidelines for new managers on communicating with their staff, for customer service staff on communicating with customers, for staff moving to another country (for example your own), or for staff taking a business trip to a particular country

Write a press release announcing the launch of a (real or imaginary) product that is a “communications revolution”

Write a memo to all staff in your department (or any department of any real or imaginary company) with new rules on how people should use electronic communications for business, or how people should communicate with each other in the office

Write a fax to a supplier ordering a new telephone system and/ or asking some questions about it

Write a CV (= resume) and/ or a cover letter (= letter of communication) of someone applying for a job that needs very good communication skills, e.g. a Communications Manager, a PR consultant, a sales rep or a diplomat. You can use real and/ or made up details about yourself.

Write an email to someone asking them to clear up several things you didn’t understand in their last email, telephone message or fax (perhaps because of bad print quality).

Write a contract between a celebrity or company and a PR consultant.

Write a notice to be put next to shared computers with rules on how they should be used.

Write the introduction to or a section of a manual or instruction booklet saying how a piece of communications equipment should be used.

Write PowerPoint slides for a presentation on how to improve your communication skills or on differences in communication styles (e.g. in different businesses or companies).

Write a text (= SMS) telling someone that you didn’t understand the last text from them, e.g. because of emoticons and abbreviations.

Write a letter of complaint, complaining about bad communication skills of the staff you had to deal with, e.g. rudeness from customer service staff or inadequate English language skills from hotel staff or others

Write a letter of apology for miscommunication that you or your company were responsible for.

Write part of a brochure, pamphlet or flyer for a course to develop staff or manager communication skillsPoints you could include in the tasks above:• Avoiding sexist language
• Use of email and phones for business and pleasure
• How to answer the phone
• Politeness
• Cultural differences in communication (body language, silence, eye contact, taboo topics etc)
• How communications can break down
• What makes a good communicator, e.g. adjectives describing good and bad communicators